Books Reviews
FAMILY DRAMA LOUISE DEAN The Old Romantic (Fig Tree) ●●●●●
There’s plenty of mileage to be had, both in terms of pathos and comedy, from the subject matter of death. Sadly, this tepid novel fails to capitalise on its dark premise, being neither moving nor funny, despite trying for both. Ken is an old man living in Kent, who is obsessed with his own death and planning his funeral, to the extent that he even helps out at the local undertakers. He’s curmudgeonly, divorced once and heading for a second, and estranged from his son Nick. There is another son, Dave, who is so tedious and clichéd a character he makes your head throb. In fact, The Old Romantic is full of wafer- thin stereotypes, from reinvented Nick to his miserable father and all points in between. Louise Dean is clearly aiming for something insightful about modern families and their dysfunction, but she misses the mark by a long way. (Doug Johnstone)
FICTION REISSUE JERRY DELLA FEMINA From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor (Canongate) ●●●●●
‘I know guys who would make you fly Nazi Airlines in a minute or get you to pack your 98 THE LIST 5–12 Aug 2010
voodoo kit for a little trip to Haiti,’ declares self- styled mad man Jerry Della Femina, in this re- release of the rambling 1970s cult classic. Although enjoyable and ever so of-their-time, eyebrow-raising epithets such as this aviation gag are sadly dulled by a barrage of name- dropping, tangential industry specifics and an irksome over-reliance on the full-stop. Short sentences are epic. They create punch. But get a nasal New Yorker stuck in your head and they grate. Big time.
An insider’s account and a cultural history to be swallowed with a large pinch of salt, Femina’s monologue hazily traces Madison Avenue’s heady golden years. Like the rightfully successful TV series that it has spawned, this offers a smokin’ portrait of an enviable profession and a hokey, satiric homage to a recognisable era. (Rosalie Doubal)
SOCIAL DRAMA HOWARD JACOBSON The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury) ●●●●●
Fans of Howard Jacobson’s skilfully constructed storytelling will not be surprised to hear that his latest work seems to centre around male-female relationships, a theme the London-based writer has explored often. But as The Finkler Question introduces us to three old acquaintances – romantic dreamer Julian Treslove, his seemingly arrogant and hugely successful uni pal Sam Finkler and their charming former lecturer Libor Sevick – we soon realise the book is as much an insight into their complex relationships with each other as it is a tale of lost female loves. They constantly assess
ALSO PUBLISHED 5 LITERARY NOVELS Monique Truong Bitter in the Mouth Linda Hammerick is a young woman growing up in North Carolina during the 70s and 80s before escaping to the north in this Southern Gothic tale. Chatto. Helon Habila Oil on Water Two Nigerian journos search for the kidnapped wife of a British oil engineer, and in the process uncover corruption and violence. Hamish Hamilton. Ian Holding Of Beasts and Beings A novel about two men in Africa, one having been seized by militia, the other a schoolteacher in a city stricken by fear and intimidation. Simon & Schuster. Annabel Lyon The Golden Mean Canada-based short story writer with a reimagining of the relationship between Aristotle and Alexander, who later had ‘The Great’ added to his name. Atlantic. Jill McGivering The Last Kestrel A debut novel about two women: a British reporter who returns to Helmand to search for the truth concerning the death of a friend, and an Afghan determined to protect her only son. Blue Door.
The Invisible Man, entitled The Nobody. Set in the ravaged heart of North America some years after a mysterious plague has virtually wiped out the human race, Sweet Tooth tells the story of a young boy named Gus who was born with stag’s antlers, one of a number of human/animal hybrids who may offer salvation to what’s left of mankind. It’s appropriately dark stuff but, five issues in, it still feels a bit thin and somewhat derivative narrative-wise. (Miles Fielder)
CRIME DRAMA LIN ANDERSON The Reborn (Hodder) ●●●●●
A baby sliced from the womb in a fairground hall of mirrors; Jeff Coulter, a charming psychopath luring girls into a pact of sex and murder while he creates baby dolls from his prison cell for bereaved parents; dark, disturbing rituals; the Russian mafia; an enigmatic, driven and irresistible investigative journalist; lost love and longing. This is the life of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod as she attempts to decipher the ‘daisy chain’ code that appears to link the murders with only the minutest clues. All she has to do is catch the killer and find the man she once loved and believed to be dead. Set in Glasgow, The Reborn is a chilling, absorbing chase through
contrasting worlds: a middle-class pretence of respectability, the darkness and cruelty of mafia dealings, police cover-ups and gory murders. Lin Anderson has clearly done immense research into forensic science and while such dedication is refreshing and all too rare, the information gathered is used too heavily in the novel. Instead of maintaining focus on her characters she has a tendency to insert unnecessary, lengthy clinical explanations, which often detract from the intensity.
Using a mentally-ill man as the masterminding villain is unoriginal and unlikely to improve the public perception of or sympathy towards mental illness. A psychologist visiting Coulter in prison fleetingly remarks on unfortunate public misconceptions, but thereafter he is dismissed as a sadistic lunatic. More intriguing would have been to drop Coulter and create greater mystery around the girls, making them responsible for the tangle of events. (Kate Gould)
each others’ moods and achievements throughout, lock horns and ask the types of existential questions that come with maturity. And the way that Jacobson depicts these largely loveable characters and weaves their experiences together, clearly relishing each elegant word choice and sumptuous phrase, ensures that while we are delving into the pasts and psyches of the world-weary, there is a beauty and humour in their sadness. (Camilla Pia)
SCI-FI COMIC JEFF LEMIRE Sweet Tooth (Titan/Vertigo) ●●●●● It’s hardly surprising that Jeff Lemire’s current ongoing series (the first five issues of which are collected here) should be a bleak, post- apocalyptic yarn that recalls, among other precedents, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Lemire established himself as a new talent to watch with his achingly sad rural saga The Essex County Trilogy, before using his
pared-down but highly emotive storytelling style to explore themes of identity and alienation in a graphic novel reinvention of HG Wells’